Dietary carotenoids are lipid soluble compounds abundant in fruits and vegetables. Carotenoids are responsible the spectrum of color found in fruits and vegetables, and are also responsible for the coloring of some birds and shellfish. Hundreds of carotenoid compounds have been identified, and approximately 30 of these compounds have been detected in human serum, milk, and other tissues (Khachik, et al., “Chemistry, distribution, and metabolism of tomato carotenoids and their impact on human health,” Exp. Biol. Med. 2002, Vol. 227:845-851).
Human milk provides a variety of antioxidants to the breastfed infant. In contrast, exclusively formula-fed infants do not receive the variety or the quantity of carotenoids that are ingested by breastfed infants until other complementary foods are introduced to the diet. The lack of carotenoids in the diets of formula fed infants may be particularly problematic in preterm infants.
Infants who are born prior to 37 weeks gestation often face complications resulting from their prematurity. For instance, preterm infants are more susceptible to increased morbidities that are not common in healthy term infants. Underdeveloped organs such as the lungs, eye, intestines, and brain can reveal conditions such as chronic lung disease, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). Infants in the NICU often have increased inflammation and oxidative stress associated with common diseases of prematurity as well as the treatments used to combat these illnesses (Gitto, et al., Am. J. Perinatal. 2004, Vol. 21:209-216; Ochoa, et al., Free Rad. Res. 2003, Vol. 37:317-322; Saugstad, Sem. Neonatal. 2003, Vol. 3:39-49).
Preterm infants are also at a nutritional disadvantage at birth, as they have been deprived of the period of maximal transfer of nutrients during the last few weeks of pregnancy. Consequently, it would therefore be desirable to provide a preterm infant formula comprising sufficient levels of carotenoids, such as lutein, lycopene, and beta-carotene, to modulate inflammation in preterm infants, such as inflammation associated with common diseases of prematurity.
It has now been unexpectedly discovered that inflammation in preterm infants, particularly skin inflammation, can be modulated by administering to the preterm infant a preterm infant formula that has been supplemented with a mixture of lutein, lycopene, and beta-carotene. More particularly, it has been discovered that preterm infant formulas containing certain levels of beta-carotene, lutein, and lycopene, can be used to decrease plasma levels of the inflammation marker C-reactive protein, and consequently decrease inflammation in preterm infants.